The Mallee is where the heart is for BCG research and extension officer Linda Walters who grew up on a family farming operation at Manangatang.
I grew up on my family farm 20km north-east of Manangatang and my mum, dad and brother Haydn still farm the 5,500 hectare property. Of that, 500 hectares is share-farmed and our rotations generally consist of 60% cereals and 40% legumes. The growing season rainfall averages 180mm and most of the soils are sandy loam with some heavier flats in some of the paddocks.
The farm is in its fourth generation with my Pa’s father and mother originally buying the first block of land (about 640 acres) in the 1920’s, which is now the home block. Although farmed by mum, dad and brother, one of the fifth generation (one of my nephews) is already interested in the ‘big red machines’, busy driving his toy header in the house backyard.
Most of our grain is stored on-farm at harvest and feed grain is sold direct to stockfeeds (dairy industry) whilst higher quality grain is sold through contracts and some forward selling. Over the summer, fat lambs are bought in to graze on crop residues and then feedlotted prior to selling before sowing.
Some of the biggest challenges faced on our family farm has been the effects of drought experienced over a number of years with poor yields and low grain prices. Soil erosion issues and land management were problematic before the introduction of no-till. Weed control and managing resistance is also another major issue that we have to keep on top of by trying to work out the best way to manage and keep herbicide use to a minimum is important.
However, grain marketing continues to be a hard task to perfect. When single desk selling was still around it made things a lot easier, grain could be delivered into the system into a pool and payment occurred over a number of years. Nowadays, farmers have to be more savvy in the marketing space.
I now live in Donald and still love being part of a small community not too far from where I grew up. Whilst the landscape changes and I’m used to sandy Mallee country, the people don’t change. The passion, support and community spirit stay alive in any small town and it is one of the things I love about small town living and farming communities.
I also enjoy getting ‘back to my roots’ when I have a spare weekend. With the big harvest last year, I went back to the farm and helped during harvest on the header and chaser bin to take the pressure off some of the team. I really enjoy being involved in the family farm still, especially at the tail end of the year (harvest) when there is a big crew around.
In the future, learning more about my partner’s family farm is another interest of mine. They farm near Donald and have broadacre cropping as well as free range layer hens that produce up to 25,000 eggs a day. They also run a grow out piggery that turns pigs over about every 16 weeks. The intensive animal industry is relatively new to me, so there is plenty to learn coming from a cropping background.
I enjoy working at BCG because there is always so much diversity. One day you can be in the field doing plant counts and the next you could be standing on stage at a conference presenting to 150 farmers or industry representatives about research you have undertaken. I also enjoy working closely with farmers through facilitating farmer discussion groups. It allows me to stay directly involved in the farming community and share relevant and timely information to growers in a learning environment. Having grown up on a farm, the fact that we are doing timely, relevant research for the benefit of the farming community makes me proud to be part of the team at BCG.
